Humanities Databases
IU subscribes to far too many databases to list here. What is more important than knowing which particular database to use (for that, see the research guides or talk to the subject specialist listed on each research guides) is understanding a few basic points about databases:
- Databases range from highly specific to highly generalized. Each has benefits and drawbacks as you might expect. International Medieval Bibliography, to exemplify a specific one, has cataloged articles into subjects like "heraldry" and "Crusades," but the database is obviously less useful to non-medievalists.
- Databases are each a bit different from each other. It is well worth your time to glance at the "help" page, especially the sections on searching. Also see if the database has a "thesaurus" (which advises you what terms to search, e.g. Revolutionary War and not American Revolution).
- While each database is unique to some degree, a few companies (Ebsco, Proquest, Gale, etc.) run a large percentage of them. If you pay attention to who owns which ones, it will help your searching.
- Keep track of where you search, what you search, and what you find. Otherwise you will inevitably replicate your work over and over again.
Below are just a few databases that might be of use in the humanities. It is a small percentage of what's available. For a slightly longer list, click here.
- Academic Search (EBSCO)
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Provides full-text coverage of magazine, newspaper, and scholarly journal articles for most academic disciplines.
- America: History & Life
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Bibliographic database focusing on the history and life of the United States and Canada, indexing more than 1,800 journals published, dissertations and reviews.
- ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
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ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials is a combined index to journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion, biblical studies, world religions, church history, religious perspectives on social issues.
- Gender Studies Database
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Citations to articles, books, conference papers, pamphlets, dissertations and other publications about gender inequality, masculinity, post-feminism, and gender identity. - Historical Abstracts
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Index to journals, chapters and theses about world history, 1450 to present. - JSTOR
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Provides searchable full-text of historical runs of important scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, sciences, ecology, and business. - MLA International Bibliography
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The MLA Bibliography indexes material in modern languages, literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, folklore, and film. - Project Muse
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Provides full text access and indexing for e-journals and e-books from a variety of scholarly publishers. Covers the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics, and many others.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window
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Comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses from around the world, including millions of works from thousands of universities. Each dissertation published since July, 1980 includes a 350-word abstract written by the author. Master's theses published since 1988 include 150-word abstracts. Simple bibliographic citations are available for dissertations dating from 1637.
